En Voyage_Issue#14_Flickbook

Sport
PADEL
TENNIS
En Voyage finds out why padel is ‘the easiest sport to play’
and how its popularity is growing in Guernsey.
They say it’s the fastest-growing
sport in the world. It’s a racket sport
that combines aspects of tennis,
squash and badminton. And it’s now
growing in popularity in Guernsey.
But if you’ve never heard of padel,
you’re not alone.
Let’s start with the basics.
Its origins date back to the 1960s to
Mexico, where Enrique Corcuerra invented
padel. It uses the same scoring method
as tennis and the matches are the best of
five sets, but the rackets are solid rather
than strung, and it’s always played as a
doubles sport in glass box courts where
the ball can be played off the walls.
By the mid 1970s, the game had been
exported to Spain where its popularity grew.
The very first Padel World Championships
took place in Madrid in 1992, the same
year that a British padel group was set up.
While not there at the start, Guernsey is
now making up for lost time after opening
a club in 2017, meaning the number of
courts across the British Isles is growing
all the time. That’s something British Padel
president Peter Vann is delighted to see.
He said: ‘I played it first in 2002. Now there
are 31 courts in Great Britain. The challenge
for the sport is to let people know what it
is. Once they do they know how fun and
sociable it is, and then they’re hooked.’
‘Padel is the easiest sport to play because
you strike the ball very close to your hand,
you don’t need very much technical skill,
so you can enjoy it very quickly. You need
to try this sport. It’s the best thing!’
IMAGES ©GUERNSEY PADEL TENNIS
104 En Voyage | Aurigny’s Magazine